the dreaded 1024 cylinder question please help.

[pctechnician]

I am trying to install RedHat 7.1 I created the partitions using disk druid, but a warning saying as follows:

you have put the partition containing the kernel(boot files) above the 1024 cylinder limit and appears this systems bios wont support booting from above this limit.

It said if I press ok that Linux might not boot.

How do i fix this problem.

 

[krale]

How fast is your CPU? What's the make of the motherboard? Please let Tek-Tips members know if their posts were helpful.

 

[jgr220]

It shouldn't matter linux isn't that picky Im not familiar with RH but other distros give this warning too just install lilo to the mbr BTW This will over write the windows mbr but if you want to remove linux later use fdisk fixmbr.

 

[krale]

---It shouldn't matter linux isn't that picky

You're right. The kernel isnt picky.

---Im not familiar with RH but other distros give this warning too just install lilo to the mbr

It's because this is a LiLo issue.And it does matter what kind of hardware you have. I've dealt with some older motherboards that puke if you load lilo and have a sector higher than 1024 on start or end. If this is a 200 MHZ box, worry (and backup)...

---BTW This will over write the windows mbr but if you want to remove linux later use fdisk fixmbr.

Please, use proper grammar. It makes things easier when reading the requests/comments. Please let Tek-Tips members know if their posts were helpful.

 

[wpfaff]

Is this a dual boot system with windows?

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The kernel needs to reside entirely below the 1023rd cylinder on the drive. If this is the case, you need to create a /boot partition that resides in these limits and reinstall LILO.
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You may also need to go into your system's BIOS and make certain that LBA mode is enabled. If LBA was off, you will need to repartition and reinstall.

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When to Use Loadlin

Question:

When do I need to use loadlin?

Answer:

You will need an alternative to LILO if you can not install the Linux kernel to where the BIOS can reach it or you do not wish to use it. The BIOS may not be able to reach it for one of the following reasons:

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The kernel is above the 1023 cylinder of the hard drive.
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The kernel is on a drive the BIOS cannot boot to (not on Primary IDE or SCSI chain).
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Other esoteric kernel/BIOS problems.
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You have hardware that can only be initialized in DOS (Plug and Play, etc).

You will probably need to use the Loadlin boot loader that is provided on the CD-ROM in \dosutils. You will need to copy this directory over to your DOS hard drive partition and edit the autoboot.bat file to point to its new position and removing the initrd= line. If your system is a SCSI system, you will need to go into rescue mode and copy the /mnt/boot/initrd.img from the hard drive over to the DOS partition, and use it for booting.